A night after the Sharks took a walk off win, the Wilmington squad watched as Relly Mercurio blasted a two out tie breaking home run in the bottom of the ninth, for an 8-7 Copperhead win.

The homer was the only hit allowed by Tyler Andersen in his Sharks debut, as he takes a tough first loss of the season.

After trailing 7-2 the Sharks stormed all the way back and tied the score with one in the ninth to create the need for Asheboro's dramatics.

Trailing still by one in the ninth Andrew Guerra(St. Louis) singled with one down. In a pinch hit at bat, Adam Eggemeyer(SIU-Edwardsville) singled Guerra to third allowing the Texan to sprint home on a wild pitch in the next at bat to tie the score at seven.

Jumping ahead early, the Sharks picked up a run on three straight base hits with one down in the first. Number two batter Adam Gray(Mercyhurst) started things with a single. Jesse Bosnik(St. Bonaventure) picked up his own single ahead of Greg Bachman(Austin Peay) who lashed a single to right putting the Sharks up 1-0.

With things knotted at one in the second, the Sharks went single, double, single to pick up a run. With runners off of second and third, Trevor Willis(Iowa) looped a single to right center giving the Sharks a 2-1 lead.

The lead did not last long as Max Friedman(Parkland C.C.) struggled in two and two thirds innings. Friedman allowed six runs on nine hits, striking out one in his shortest outing this season.

Garrett Cooper(St. Louis) came on in relief for the Sharks but was greated rudely by a three run home run and lasted only two thirds of an inning, giving way to Hunter Ford(Campbell). Ford retired the first six he faced holding the Copperheads scoreless for three frames.

Graham Fronk(Campbell) started things off in a two run fourth for the Sharks with his second double on the night. Willis picked up his second hit and second RBI, driving in Fronk, to pull the Sharks to 7-3. With Willis on second then a batter later, Gray knocked a bounding infield single to make it 7-4.

Still trailing by three in the seventh the Sharks broke through for two more runs. Bosnik singled to chase Asheboro starter Nathan Furr. Bachman then lofted a ball down the line that was dropped by the right fielder. An errant throw towards third with Bosnik moving allowed the St. Bonaventure Bonnie to score. Bachman himself came home on a wild pitch during the next at bat.

All of that combined with the run in the ninth to bring the Sharks all the way back to the win that almost was.

Wilmington will be back at the "Shark Tank" Friday July 3rd to take on these same Florence Redwolves. Stick around after the game for an Independence Day fireworks celebration. Gates open at 6 p.m. the game starts at 7 p.m.

The Wilmington Sharks are members of the summer collegiate Coastal Plain League, the nation’s hottest summer collegiate baseball league. In 2008 the Sharks drew more than 50,000 fans to the “Shark Tank” for an average of 1,650 per game. For more information on tickets, merchandise or advertising opportunities please call (910) 343.5621.

 Wilmington at Asheboro
              Jul 02, 2009 at Asheboro, NC (McCrary Park)

Wilmington 7 (1-2)                   Asheboro 8 (2-0)

                  AB  R  H RBI                         AB  R  H RBI

Rooney, M. ss      4  0  1  0        Pope, T. cf        3  0  1  0
Gray, A. 2b        5  1  2  1        Schultz, A. 2b     4  1  2  2
Bosnik, J. dh      4  1  2  0        Lyerly, C. rf      5  0  0  0
Bachman, G. 3b     5  1  1  1        Moyer, A. dh       2  0  1  0
Guerra, A. rf      5  1  1  0        Pritchard, N ss    5  0  1  0
Overstret, C 1b    4  0  0  0        Cotten, S. c       3  2  1  0
Eggemeyer, A ph    1  0  1  0        Mercurio, R. 1b    5  3  3  1
Hill, A. 1b        0  0  0  0        Hohn, J. lf        2  1  1  1
Wingo, D. c        3  1  0  0        Jordan, Z. ph/lf   1  0  0  0
Fronk, G. lf       5  1  2  0        Kirkpatrick, 3b    4  1  2  4
Willis, T. cf      4  1  2  2        Furr, N. p         0  0  0  0
Friedman, M. p     0  0  0  0        Lane, J. p         0  0  0  0
Cooper, G. p       0  0  0  0        Weller, D. p       0  0  0  0
Ford, H. p         0  0  0  0        Honeycutt, L p     0  0  0  0
Anderson, T. p     0  0  0  0        

Totals......      40  7 12  4        Totals......      34  8 12  8

Score by innings:                      R  H  E
----------------------------------------------
Wilmington            110 200 201   -  7 12  0
Asheboro              124 000 001   -  8 12  2
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Note: 2 outs, 0 runner(s) LOB when the game ended.

E - Lyerly, C. 2. LOB - Wilmington 10; Asheboro 9. 2B - Fronk, G. 2. HR -
Schultz, A.; Mercurio, R.; Kirkpatrick,. SH - Hohn, J.. SB - Rooney, M.;
Gray, A.; Bosnik, J. 2. CS - Pope, T..

                       IP  H  R ER BB SO  WP BK HP IBB  AB BF Fly Gnd

Friedman, M.          2.2  9  6  6  3  1   1  0  0  0   13 17   1  3
Cooper, G.            0.2  1  1  1  4  0   0  0  0  0    3  7   2  0
Ford, H.              2.2  1  0  0  1  0   0  0  0  0    9 10   5  3
Anderson, T. L        2.2  1  1  1  0  2   0  0  0  0    9  9   2  4

Furr, N.              6.0  9  5  4  2  3   1  0  1  0   27 30   6  9
Lane, J.              1.0  0  1  0  1  2   0  0  0  0    4  5   0  1
Weller, D.            1.0  1  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0    4  4   1  2
Honeycutt, L W        1.0  2  1  1  0  1   1  0  0  0    5  5   1  1

WP - Friedman, M.; Furr, N.; Honeycutt, L. HBP - by Furr, N. (Bosnik, J.).
PB - Cotten, S. 2.

Strikeouts - Gray, A.; Guerra, A.; Wingo, D. 2; Fronk, G.; Willis, T.;
Lyerly, C.; Cotten, S.; Kirkpatrick,. Walks - Rooney, M.; Wingo, D. 2;
Pope, T. 2; Schultz, A.; Moyer, A. 3; Cotten, S. 2.

Umpires - Home:Reen Larger  1st:Jeff Andrews 
Start: 7:05   Time: 3:03   Attendance: 665
Furr, N. faced 1 batter in the 7th.